Variable capacity container



Sept 23, 1952 v K JALKANEN 2,611,272

VARIABLE CAPACITY CONTAINER Filed Oct. 15, 1949 .mgl

ATTORN EYS Patented Sept. 23, 1952 VARIABLE CAPACITY CONTAINER Vin Kustaa .iallranem Viitasaar, Finland Application October l5, 1949, Serial No. 121,489 In Finland July 27, 1949 l Ciaim. (Cl. '7S-429) This invention relates to variable capacity containers, especially for cattle fodder and has for its object a new and improved device for rationing of fodder in desired quantities, expressed for instance in weight, fodder units, calories or other feeding values.

In stock breeding it is necessary twice daily to ration out and serve good, fioury or granular fodder to various animals. True, the ration amounts are given in kilograms on the feeding list but for speeding up the work it is customary to employ cubic measures of specific size, e. g. for one kilogram of the food under consideration, decreasing or increasing approximately the last measure in order to obtain the quantity desired. As the specific Weights of rich fodder and mixtures thereof vary in rationing the food it is almost always necessary to employ separate measures for each kind of fodder. Heretofore it has been customary to employ sheet-metal containers for the purpose described but these are usually weak in construction and very unsatisfactory. The object of the present invention is to obviate the defect described by providing a container which can be manufactured so as to be strong in construction and is adjustable with respect to capacity on changing from one kind of fodder to another thus ensuring the continuous use of the device. Naturally the container according to the invention can be adapted for use in rationing materials other than those herein mentioned.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, partly in section, of one form of container embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is another view in side elevation, the container turned 90 in respect of Figure 1.

In the drawing the container consists of two parts: wall part A and bottom part B. To the wall part A is flxed a handle C by means of holders 4 and da. The holder 4 is xed to both sides of a wedge-like slot 3 on the bottom edge of the wall part. A screwbolt 5 with wing nut is fixed to the one leg of the holder 4 and passes freely through the other leg of the holder adjacent the wing nut. When the wing nut is loose the part B and also the upwardly turned bottom 2 can totally or in part slide into the Wall part A. The contacting surfaces of the parts A and B are rough so as to maintain said parts in place on xing the part B to the desired height within the part A by tightening the slot 3 on the wall part A by means of the bolt 5.

Advantageously the capacity of the container is determined experimentally, e. g. by filling the container with a weighed amount of material somewhat smaller in volume than the capacity of the container, then raising the bottom part B until the material is on level with the edge I, and in this position securing the parts A and B together by means of the fastener 5. The correctness of the adjustment is checked by weighing several test rations. In rationing materials the heap is wiped oif with any suitable smoothing means employed in connection with cubic measures. The surfaces of one or both of the concentric parts A and B may be provided with airexit-holes.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

A two-part telescoping container the capacity of which may be regulated from zero capacity to a capacity equal to the sum of the interior volumes of the two telescopic elements, which comprises: two concentric cylindrical elements, one tightly tti'ng within and capable of being telescoped with reference to said other, said telescopic cylindrical elements being slidable longitudinally with respect to each other to adjust the capacityr of said container, said inner cylindrical element being provided with a bottom which is movable toward and away from the outer edge of said outer cylindrical element as the capacity of said container is adjusted by telescopic movement, of said inner cylindrical element with respect to said outer cylindrical element, said inner cylindrical element being capable of sliding within said outer cylindrical element both when said bottom is so positioned uppermost as to permit of said bottom being slid up to a position adjacent said outer edge of said outer cylindrical element, and when said bottom is positioned in its lowermost position wherein it can be slid only to a position which is spaced from said outer edge of said cylindrical element by a distance equal to the height of said inner cylindrical element, said outer cylindrical element being provided with a longitudinally extending contractible slot beginning at its inner edge portion and extending upwardly toward said outer edge, and means for drawing the edges of said contractible slot toward each other whereby to tightly secure said outer cylindrical element with respect to said inner cylindrical element in an adjusted position, said means for drawing the edges of said contractible slot toward each other comprising a pair of apertured ears, one secured to said outer cylindrical element on each side of said contractible slot, a headed screw-threaded bolt extending through said apertures, and a nut travelling on said bolt and acting, when screwed toward the head of said bolt, to draw said edges toward eachother.

vIN KUsTAA JALKANEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 143,352 Leitzell July 21, 1874 '722,045 Ream Mar. 3, 1903 

